I’m 90% certain that none of the resources being “bought” by AI actually have been sold, or created yet.

Indeed. The prices skyrocketed because vendors realised they couldn’t get replacement supply in the future. What existed today was all they were going to get.

I’m expecting a glut of supply once those contracts fall through.

Speaking of the auto industry: Is AI a mirage, like the dreams of a working rotary engine?

It is, but I think it’s a different type of mirage. The rotary engine does work, but it brings with it significant downsides. Getting the positives without the negatives is the mirage being chased.

AI appears to do one thing, but actually does another. People see it “creating” new things, but it’s more like it shreds work up and then glues the pieces together making sure it looks consistent. Train it on one work and it can reproduce that work. Train it on two and it will mash the two. Train it on a billion and it will mash the billion. Nothing creative,. No extrapolation. Just interpolation.

People want the AI promise regardless of the downsides. It just doesn’t exist.